1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for forming an instant game court which may be easily removed from an outdoor court having a hard surface and also to a process of composing and applying a marking material to the outer exposed surface of the outdoor court to form the game court.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the popularity of basketball, many homes have installed their own basketball equipment. Such equipment usually includes a pole, backboard, hoop, and net. Typically, equipment of this type does not include the details of installing a game (playing) court, or more specifically the outline of the game court, on any type of outdoor concrete, asphalt, black-top or like hard surface. The lines forming the areas of the game court, such as the side boundary lines, the foul line, the lines where players stand during a foul shot, and the three point line, are therefore missing from such make-shift domestic courts. Also, the size of the area of the available outdoor surface normally necessitates only a "half-court" game court being utilized.
In order to enhance the playing of the game of basketball, or any other game for which it is desired to temporarily apply and use a defined game court, a desirable effect would be to mark such domestic courts with the court lines.
Naturally, other types of game courts in professional, amateur, or more organized leagues are available and known in the prior art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,692 to Overholser et al. discloses a template for marking batter's and catcher's boxes of a baseball diamond in conformance with league or other standard regulations. The structure disclosed in the Overholser patent includes a rectangular frame template with dimensions having a pre-selected relationship to the type of boxes or portions of the batting area being formed. The template is of a rigid format or construction which may be adjusted and sized to define the dimensions of the batting area being formed. However, to form the typical batter's box or catcher's box, the outline or boundaries defined by the aforementioned template are marked in with chalk or other like material which can readily be removed by scuffing, sliding, or other frictional contact with the applied chalk lines. This is typical with all types of professional, amateur, or regulated outdoor sporting events.
However, when it is desired to install a game court for a game such as basketball which is normally played on a hard court surface, the placement of chalk or another easily removable substance on such hard surface to outline the court lines, as taught by the Overholser patent, does not result in the formation of a fixedly attached game court.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,497 to Cordingely discloses a baseball-like game apparatus including a playing surface marked to define a triangular area having a pair of foul lines, a defensive base line, etc. Indicia are located within the triangle to define the placement of locations of bases or other objects. This patent, however, relates primarily to a physical apparatus used to outline a game court and does not disclose a desirable marking material that can be fixedly yet removably applied to a hard surface court, such as an outdoor concrete or asphalt surface, to form the game court lines.
Other U.S. patents that are generally representative of structures or processes for forming game courts, but which appear to be primarily of secondary interest only, include Theriot, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,371; DeVos, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,883; Nehl, U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,118; Safina, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,913; and Raub, U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,243.
Accordingly, there is still a need for a system that can easily and accurately forman "instant" game court which during play remains fixedly attached to the exposed surface of an outdoor hard court surface made of concrete, asphalt, or blacktop, and is generally resistant to removal by scuffing, scraping, sliding, or other such frictional contact. However, the game court should be capable of being easily removed when the court is no longer desired for use, by rinsing with a hose or like facility or through nature's own rain water.